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Film Festivals, Movie Reviews

Heartland Film Festival: Armand Review

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Armand

  • Director: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
  • Writer: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
  • Starring: Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Endre Hellestveit, Thea Lambrechts Vaulen, Øystein Røger, Vera Veljović-Jovanović, Loke Nikolaisen

Grade: B+

A debut feature from a nepo baby brings a wide range of expectations for me. Sometimes they can turn out fantastic, like Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, and other times you get films like Ishana Shayamalan’s The Watchers, a haphazard attempt at replicating her father. Luckily for Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, the grandson of Ingmar Bergman, his debut Armand finds himself a worthy directorial talent to look out for in the future.

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Film Festivals, Movie Reviews

Heartland Film Festival: Flow Review

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Flow

  • Director: Gints Zilbalodis
  • Writer: Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža

Grade: A-

Yes, technically, Flow is an animated fantasy film featuring a cadre of wild animals in a post-apocalyptic landscape, but it’s the more grounded naturalism that makes the film sing. Besides, given that we’ve just seen two “once-in-a-generation” hurricanes strike in the past two weeks, perhaps it’s not so far-fetched after all. Gints Zilbalodis, the co-writer (with Matīss Kaža) , director, producer, editor, cinematographer, production designer, and co-composer (with Rihards Zalupe) has crafted a warm and inviting story about friendship and nature that stands as one of the year’s best films.

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Movie Reviews

The Outrun Review

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The Outrun

  • Director: Nora Fingsheidt
  • Writers: Nora Fingsheidt, Amy Liptrot
  • Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedou, Stephen Dillane, Saskia Reeves

Grade: B

The Outrun is a story of addiction – alcohol addiction, specifically – but it’s a film that looks at the almost mythological origins of addiction. Are we born an addict, or is it borne from circumstance? It’s fitting for a film set on the Scottish coast, where its main character, played with devastating humanity by Saoirse Ronan, is a biologist who often waxes poetic about humanity’s origins. Character studies about addicts, or even unlikeable protagonists, are nearly as old as film itself, and while writer-director Nora Fingsheidt’s film isn’t an entirely fresh entry, it feels like it comes from a place of genuine sincerity.

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Movie Reviews

Joker: Folie à Deux Review

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Joker: Folie à Deux

  • Director: Todd Phillips
  • Writer: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
  • Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener

Grade: C+

It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since the release of Todd Phillips’ Joker. Whether you loved it or hated it, the movie’s status as a phenomenon is undeniable. Not only did it become the highest grossing R-rated movie (at the time), but it was hard to escape since it premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the prestigious Golden Lion Award. Regardless of what any individual felt, it got a lot of people talking and even became a bit of a hot-button political issue.

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Movie Reviews

My Old Ass Review

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My Old Ass

  • Director: Megan Park
  • Writer: Megan Park
  • Starring: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler

Grade: A-

Coming-of-age films have always been a hallmark of filmmaking, from the beloved movies of John Hughes to the modern classics like Lady Bird and The Edge of Seventeen. Writer-director Megan Park’s sophomore feature My Old Ass brings a new twist to the genre. Instead of being a period piece, complete with nostalgic needle drops and the filmmaker’s own upbringing, Park sets her film squarely in the present day with her heroine interacting with her future self.

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Movie Reviews

Megalopolis Review

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Megalopolis

  • Director: Francis Ford Coppola
  • Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
  • Starring: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LeBouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Kathryn Hunter

Grade: D+

Make no doubt about it, Francis Ford Coppola is a director who has more than earned his reputation as a master of film. From The Godfather and Part 2 to Apocalypse Now, he has made some of the most widely celebrated and praised movies of all time. Although unlike some of his compatriots such as Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, he has had his fair share of fumbles.

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